Marc Flemming
Renovator
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Registered: Jan 2003
Local time: 10:23 AM
Location: Santa Cruz
Posts: 3663
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For Esther Mok, surviving the virus is a mixed blessing. The former flight attendant survived only to find that her parents, uncle and pastor had died after catching it from her.
She could not attend her parents’ funeral because she was in quarantine. She had to grieve in isolation at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Ms Mok, 26, has been dubbed a “super-spreader” with some 100 infected victims traced back to her. The term has merely made worse her suffering and that of her family.
In a text message sent to The Straits Times, her younger brother reportedly said: “Could you tell your paper to stop using my sister’s name and the Health Ministry to stop calling her a super-infector? It could hurt her chances of getting a job later on. Employers and other people would shun her even after she got well.”
Even though she has recovered, the authorities are reluctant to let her go, fearing a media frenzy. It was last reported that Ms Mok was living in a modern-day exile in the specialist hospital, which has been designated to treat and isolate Sars cases.
Lim Suet Wun, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said: “I cannot say where she is. I feel for her. We should show her great support.” Ms Mok’s misfortunes began in February when she went to Hong Kong and stayed at the Metropole Hotel. A Chinese professor from Guangdong, suffering from Sars, was also a guest. He passed the virus on to her.
Dr Lim feels that Ms Mok is being unfairly blamed for spreading the virus. “Perhaps it is part of the grieving process to look for blame and some people fell into this trap,” he said.
“When she went to Hong Kong there was no travel advisory against Hong Kong. Did she behave in any way which put people at risk? No. She was just a tourist.”
Source: Times Online (UK)
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04-23-2003 01:07 AM
